NASP Publications

Commentary: Implementing Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations: Reflections, Reactions, and Research

Stephen N. Elliott, Thomas R. Kratochwill, Andrew T. Roach

pp. 320—326

The article "Implementation, Sustainability, and Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools" by Elias, Zins, Graczyk, and Weissberg (2003) is a thought-provoking contribution, and one that begs for more application. Some of the points the authors raise have been articulated in the school (Kratochwill, 2002; Kratochwill & Stoiber, 2000, 2002) and clinical (Schoenwald & Hoagwood, 2001) evidence-based intervention(EBI) literature and, although these issues may deserve repeating, it is time to move to anaction agenda (not just an action research agenda—see later) to advance research and practice in this area. In fact, the Task Force on Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology(2003) has a committee specifically focused on the Research-to-Practice agenda (see Kratochwill & Shernoff, in press) and APA Division 53 has a Task Force devoted to this topic (Atkins, 2003), both of which are addressing scaling up and adoption of innovation issues in school and community settings. Within this context, the authors provide a good look at the big picture and some ideas that can guide implementation of social-emotional interventions in schools. In this invited commentary our goal is to reinforce and extend some of the key points made by Elias and his colleagues. Our thoughts are organized into two main sections: (a) reflections and reactions,and (b) needed research and research methods.